While global connectivity is inevitable, most of us are still at the mercy of our phone companies for now, especially when we travel. If you live in the US, though, you can now get a small taste of the future: Unlimited call, text, and data in over 140 210 countries with the T-Mobile One plan.

From Unlimited, to Even More Unlimited

The “One” plan actually comes in three varieties: One, One Plus, and One Plus International, all with unique features and limits.

The Basic “One”:

Unlimited calls anywhere in North America
-Call from anywhere in North America to anywhere in North America at no extra charge, and to other countries from 20¢/minute.

Unlimited data and texting in 210 countries
-Average data speeds abroad are 128Kbps, but in Canada and Mexico it’s 4G LTE (up to 30GB/mo before you get throttled).

One free hour per flight of Gogo Wi-Fi
-This perk only works from your cellphone on flights that offer Gogo Wi-Fi. You also get free in-flight texting on Gogo-enabled flights.

Unlimited 3G tethering

Free Netflix (only available with a subscription of two or more lines)

Pricing:

1 line: $70/mo (Netflix not included)

2 lines: $60/line – $120/mo total

3 lines: $47/line – $140/mo total

4 lines: $40/line – $160/mo total

The “One Plus”:

Everything in the basic plan plus:

Two times faster data speeds abroad (up to 3G)

Unlimited HD video streaming in the US

Up to 5GB of 4G LTE tethering in North America, instead of the basic 3G

Unlimited Wi-Fi on Gogo-enabled flights

Voicemail to text transcription

Name ID Service

Pricing:

Basic +$10/mo/line

One Plus International:

Everything above and:

Call landlines in 70+ countries and mobile phones in 30+ countries.

Calls can be made both abroad and domestically, but the pricing depends on the country you’re calling. Some are free, and others are 20¢/minute.

Pricing:

I heard about this plan in December of 2016, and my wife and I made the switch. We were able to get two lines for $100/mo — being frequent travelers between the US and Mexico, the basic “One” plan seemed to have all our needs covered. We could call, text, and use unlimited high-speed data to and from anywhere in North America.

That was a lot more than what any of the competition were offering–what could be the catch? We had to see if it lived up to the hype.

Test #1: Calling Mexico from the US

My wife is from Mexico, and is the only one in her family who has moved stateside. This plan sounded like a gift from the telecommunication gods to her. So, what happened when she called her mom in southwestern Mexico and talked for over an hour? Surely we’d have some sort of fee.

I pulled up my account with T-Mobile as soon she got off the phone, and … there was nothing out of the ordinary. No international charges, or any other costs, and the call was solid all the way through. We were impressed. Not bad, T-Mobile, not bad at all.

Test #2: Roaming in Mexico

Since we travel throughout Mexico a lot, I had high hopes of being able to use GPS navigation, hail an Uber, and make the occasional FaceTime call. So after a couple of months of roaming around Mexico, I was blown away at how well I could do all those things. We traveled to Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Mexico City, Playa del Carmen, and beyond.

Data worked like it did back home. My phone usually connected to “TELCEL”, Mexico’s main provider. The connection was so good I could live stream via Facebook from some remote locations. Even calls and from the US were no problem. All with no extra charges. Texting worked fine too. I was thoroughly impressed.

Read the Fine Print

After two months of smooth sailing along the high-speed digital waters of the future, we got an unwelcome text from T-Mobile. Apparently this plan is not meant to be used for more than two months outside of the US at a time.

A representative from T-Mobile’s “Extreme Roaming Department” (yes, that’s a thing) verified this with me in an interview for this article. The T-Mobile website states that the “One” Plan is “not for extended international use.” When I asked the representative to define “extended international use”, he replied “It’s a percentage. You cannot be out of network for more than 50% of the time within a twelve-month period. You also cannot roam for three months consecutively.” Pushing that limit is in violation of T-Mobile’s terms and conditions, and your line may be dropped.

In our case, we had pushed that limitation and were subject to the cancellation of both our lines. So much for “unlimited” everything.

Fortunately, T-Mobile was able to make a one-time exception and we were able to save our lines. We had already planned our return to the US, and the famously magenta phone company showed mercy. The only caveat? We had to promise to not “abuse” the plan again in the future.

I checked the company’s terms and conditions to see whether I could confirm what the representative had told me. I could only find a sentence under roaming which reads “While roaming internationally, your data throughput may be reduced and your Service may be otherwise limited or terminated at any time without notice.” Gotta love a good old “we can do whatever we want” line covered in legalese.

Test #3: “One” in Germany

The basic “One” plan caters mostly to travelers in North America, but it does work elsewhere. To get a feel for the value of this plan to the international traveler, I went to Germany for two weeks. I thought about upgrading my plan to the “Plus International” for the month, but I figured I could get by with the local Wi-Fi.

Shortly after arriving in Frankfurt I noticed some obvious limitations of the plan. The data worked, but it was painfully slow. I didn’t get a proper measurement, but it certainly felt slower than 3G. T-Mobile states that speeds are an average of 128k per minute abroad, which seems accurate. I had no problems getting a connection in Frankfurt, Nuremberg, and Berlin.

For some reason, though, I had no data in Munich. It didn’t work there at all. Texting still worked fine, but I knew I didn’t have the right plan to be making affordable calls via the network. Upgrading to the “One Plus International” plan would have covered me, but instead, I just called home over Wi-Fi using Messenger and WhatsApp without any problems. I was able to make calls with both apps using cellular data in Nuremberg and Berlin.

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Is it Worth It?

I would say the old adage “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” applies here, but that wouldn’t be fair. The T-Mobile One plan is great for people who travel for short periods and regularly return to the US, but not for digital nomads and snowbirds who spend months or years outside the country. That said, it’s definitely freeing to be able to leave the States for a few weeks, and know I can stay connected almost anywhere.

If you like to travel abroad, but spend most of your time in the US, this plan is fantastic. It’s a glimpse of what the future has in store: a truly global and affordable phone plan for the modern traveler.

That genie I mentioned at the start, though? I’d use my third wish to restore meaning to the word “unlimited.”

About the Author

Jim Fricker II

Videographer, music producer, and editor, Jim has spent most of his professional life recording, creating, and manipulating digital content. After owning and operating a recording studio for eight years, he decided to hit the road with his wife to pursue a life of travel. He and his wife started Spanish and Go in 2016 and now travel the world inspiring others to learn Spanish through videos and their blog.

Comments

I used mine in London and Ireland for about a week each. While it was nice having *some* connection (without paying extra), it was painfully slow & inconsistent. SIM cards & data were cheap enough to just buy the local SIM for a week’s stay, for me. For a shorter visit, I would have sucked it up and lived with the slow connection.

Thanks for the comment, Joel! Yes, it was certainly spotty in Germany for me as well. I’ve had the most luck using it in Mexico. Which version of the service did you have when you were in London? The “One Plus International” seems like it’d be more functional in Europe, but I’m interested to hear if your experience was with that plan.

After much research, I switched from Sprint to the T-Mobile One plan in March 2017. I then traveled in eastern, central and western Europe for four months this summer. Sure, the signal was not as strong in remote parts of the Balkans, but I never had an issue with not being able to use data or cellular if I needed it. I was only charged $0.20/minute for calls, which I usually made over wifi but occasionally had to use the cellular signal which is when I incurred the charge. Otherwise no unexpected fees and I was very happy with the service. It definitely made my life easier while traveling solo and helped me navigate public transportation in areas where most people don’t speak English. FYI – I have traveled around the world for over a year before using SIM cards and this was a much easier and affordable option my purposes.

I’ve used the T-Mobile One plan extensively on six continents over the past 3 years and have had minimal problems, with the exception of Mongolia. One important note, the $.20/min for calls is only for calls back to the United States. In-country calls outside the US or calls to any other non-US destination while abroad while not on WiFi can be very expensive. Also, if your WiFi signal drops below acceptable speed (around .5 Mb/Sec.) while using WiFi Calling, your signal may switch to the local phone network and cost you the $.20/min rate to the US or worse for non-US destinations — with you knowing it until you get your bill! . All-in-all though, I would consider the service great for the non-digital nomad traveler.

@Encore Traveler, if you use iPhone you can actually prevent that switching from WiFi to local network. Go to Settings > Cellular and then scroll all the way to the bottom where you will see Wi-Fi Assist. Disable that. There may be something equivalent for Android as well, but not sure since I use an iPhone.

TMobile just blocked my international data. They say that I used it too much. I have called and spoken to 5 different agents and they all tell me different things about how I am to use the plan. I may have to cancel my plan with them after being loyal for 17 years : (